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About Kristin

Goss’s research, teaching, and service revolve around the theme of deep engagement by everyday individuals in the policy sphere. Her research focuses on the role of social movements and interest groups in representing less-advantaged groups in important policy debates. Goss serves as president of the League of Women Voters of Arlington, VA. In the past she has consulted for the Corporation for National and Community Service; served in Democratic politics in Somerville, MA; and participated as a Research Fellow in The Saguaro Seminar on Civic Engagement in America, convened at Harvard University.

"It's About Time: Who Has Time to Enjoy Family Life, Connect with the Community or be an Active Citizen? In this Work-Driven Society, It's Everyone for Themselves," Kristin Goss (with Robert D. Putnam), San Francisco Chronicle, September 24, 2000.

"Picking Up the Pieces: What Bush Needs to Do Now – Restore Faith in Civic Action," Kristin Goss (with Robert D. Putnam), Newsday, December 17, 2000.

Documents an important exception to the conventional wisdom that politicians just will not tighten gun laws. Evaluates the barriers to enacting firearms regulations (of all sorts) in America. Reviews lawmaking at the nexus of mental health and firearms over the past decade. Provides an overview of the types of laws that have been enacted and the political circumstances that have facilitated their passage.

Describes and evaluates a university-based program that combines community-based service with public policy research. Finds that providing even minimal exposure to such opportunities can whet students’ appetite for engagement in the public sphere.

Explores how public policies, both laws and regulations, may be constraining or channeling public engagement away from political activities and toward less controversial forms of community service.

The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women’s Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice (University of Michigan Press, 2012).

Traces a century of public policy advocacy by U.S. women’s organizations to show that after women won the right to vote, women’s groups gained clout on the national stage. Mass membership groups with broad agendas allowed women to address many public concerns and speak for the disadvantaged. But women’s organizational presence declined – and “women’s issues” narrowed – after the feminist victories of the 1960s and 1970s.